Computer network services such as firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs) and acceleration services are used to implement connectivity policies between network endpoints (or clients). While these network services may be necessary (e.g., to accommodate security considerations or to overcome system bottlenecks), they may consume additional system resources. For example, connecting a pair of endpoints over a public network may require a secure VPN tunnel that is associated with encryption and authentication and therefore consumes system resources. Another example of a resource consuming network function is data compression that can be used to overcome low speed data links.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.